Gusseted shopping bags are ubiquitous in the United States. They are inexpensive and convenient for carrying goods from store to home. However, they are not particularly comfortable for carrying by hand over long distances, for long periods, or when traveling by bicycle or motorcycle. At a convention or seminar, for example, patrons are often given inexpensive bags to carry around all day to fill with items from various vendors. Having their hands free reduces fatigue and allows them to fully engage in their activities. The same can be said of shopping in a large retail shopping mall. Many situations arise when it is desirable to have one's hands free while carrying a bag. For example, when needing to hold the hands of toddlers while walking through a parking lot, while needing to push a baby stroller, while answering a cell phone call, while responding to a text message, or while needing to safely navigate a bicycle or motorcycle.
An additional drawback to hand-held shopping bags (besides their aforementioned inconvenience in certain applications, their lack of comfort, and their potential safety hazard) is their lack of marketing prowess. Hand held bags typically hang around knee level and do not catch the attention of passerbys in usual situations.
Lewis has attempted to address some of these issues with her two inventions embodied in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,570,828 and 5,738,263. The earlier patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,828) shows a bag that is convertible from hand held to backpack mode. However, this invention suffers from excessive manufacturing costs due to its multiplicity of components and multiple manufacturing steps needed for assembly. The shoulder straps on this bag also hang loose and are prone to snagging on nearby items when being carried by hand, thus causing the potential to have the entire bag yanked out of hand with its contents being spilled out on the floor. Lewis' later patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,263) is solely a backpack invention and does not lend itself to carrying by hand. It also requires an excessive amount of material to manufacture that does not serve any useful load carrying capacity. As a result this bag design could be considered a “wasteful” use of material and might not be deemed “green” in the environmental sense of the word.
Platta also invented a disposable backpack (U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,729 B1). Platta's bag is solely a backpack invention and is not amenable for hand carrying.
Freistadt has patented a convertible bag/backpack in U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,274. This bag has a nearly catastrophic flaw in that the straps, used for both hand and shoulder use, cross over the opening of the bag. This makes it very difficult, and sometimes impossible (for a large or bulky item), to load the bag with merchandise. Furthermore, if the items inside the bag are large enough to protrude out of the top of the bag then it will render the shoulder strap application useless as the straps will not be able to be extended for shoulder use.
Bardes U.S. Pat. App. Pub. 2007/0108247 A1 shows a more usable (compared to Freistadt) convertible bag/backpack. It utilizes a dual drawstring mechanism to provide two straps which can be used for hand held use or for shoulder use. This product has the disadvantage of being limited to using drawstrings or straps that are too narrow to comfortably carry a heavy load. As a result the straps tend to “cut” into the user's shoulders. Drawstring type bags tend to cost more to manufacture than other promotional bags. Furthermore, when the bags are cinched closed at the top of the bag such that a drawstring of the bag may be pulled out to be used for carrying the bag, any promotional logos on the bag become unreadable.
Daniels envisions a “promotional strip” in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,118 which can be placed either inside or outside a bag's gusset. Daniels additionally provides a manufacturing method for forming a bag with such a strip in U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,584. This “promotional strip” is purely for advertising purposes and does not provide any load bearing capacity in order to use it as a carrying strap. Daniels also does not envision placing a strip in both sides of the bag for the purpose of carrying such bag as a backpack.
In conclusion, insofar as we are aware, no shopping bag formerly developed combines a low cost of manufacturing for a shopping bag that is comfortable to use, can be carried just as easily on the back as it can be carried by hand, and does not have loosely hanging straps to encumber its use in hand-carrying mode.